Wednesday, 4 May 2011

I am proud to announce that I am featured in a new, free ebook released under the Lonely Planet banner, called "Around the World with 40 Lonely Planet bloggers. You will see my work on pages 60 and 61. Please click on the following link to download it:

This is a collaboration of 40 bloggers from diverse backgrounds, all over the world and it was no mean feat to pull it all together. Many thanks of course to Lonely Planet for all their support and agreeing to host the ebook.

Wednesday, 27 April 2011

Following on from my visit to the Baiyoke Tower (see previous post) I took the skytrain and then underground to the end of the line at Hualamphong station. Just a five minute walk down the road is the fabulous Wat Traimit, located at one end of Chinatown.

This is one of Bangkok's premiere temples and as such there is an entrance fee and the associated crowds. However it's nothing like as busy as the likes of Wat Pho so it is possible to get some good, clear photos.

Wat Traimit is famous for housing the largest solid gold Buddha in the world. When this temple was being built, the Buddha was covered in a concrete casing and nobody realised what lay inside, until the crane that was lifting it dropped it. The casing cracked and the gold Buddha was revealed. It is truly spectacular and very shiny! The Buddha is on the top level, the middle level contains a moderately interesting museum detailing the history of Chinatown and the first floor a video screening about the history of the temple and surrounding area.

Thursday, 31 March 2011

On my recent family trip to Thailand, I was allowed out on my own for a day while mum took the kids shopping! I decided to spend it revisiting the Baiyoke Tower and then onto Wat Traimit on the edge of Chinatown. More about Wat Traimit in my next post...

Now, I've been to the Baiyoke Tower before, but many years ago in the days of film camera. So I decided now was the time to go again and try to get some decent photos. Just my luck, it happened to be the smoggiest day in history! These photos may look overexposed and like they were shot directly at the sun....they aren't it's the pollution!

I travelled from my inlaws house on the 77 bus, which always draws a few looks from the locals. The Thai bus network is somewhat difficult to navigate with the little information there is being mostly in Thai and the conductors generally don't speak English. The trusty 77 got me to Surasak skytrain station for some aircon'd comfort. Then it was a 15 minute walk from Siam station upto the Baiyoke Tower entrance. Being Thailand's tallest building you'd expect a somewhat grander entrance, but it's tucked away at the end of a Soi surrounded by shops. You pay your fee at a booth in the hotel entrance then round the back to the one lift that takes you up. "Five minute wait Sir" said the security guard, and he wasn't wrong!

Once you've got past the tacky little musuem and up the stairs to the viewing deck it's all worth it. You're greeted fantastic views of Bangkok, right across the Chao Phraya and beyond. On a clear day you can spot many of Bangkok famous sights, mine though wasn't a clear day!

Friday, 18 February 2011

If you are into Tibetan style temples but don't want to venture to Tibet, there's a hidden gem waiting to be discovered in Bangkok.

Almost nothing is written about this temple and that is a great shame, this is a fascinating little place tucked away at the far end of Soi Ekkamai, on Soi 23. Not very easy to get to, you will probably need a taxi to take you there and wait. If you're upto it, take the skytrain to Ekkamai and it's probably a good 15-20 minutes walk.

Although there's nothing much to see inside the temple itself, it is a beautiful building. But it is the exterior of this temple which is so appealing, with lots of little shrines dotted about, a school right next door and the way the temple is squeezed in amongst the surrounding shop houses, a bridge, canal and Siemen's Bangkok HQ!

Monday, 7 February 2011

What a great time my daughter and I had here. I had been meaning to visit here for about the last 8 years and never quite got round to it. It is not on the list of Bangkok's must see temples, but it should be. The likes of Wat Phra Kaew and Wat Pho deservedly take the headlines, but this temple gives you much more than just gleaming structures, it gives you a slice of daily life in Bangkok.

The temple is bustling, there was a market going on while we visited, selling various religious and royal items. Cars were coming and going and a lot of the locals wanted to stop and speak to us.

We only visited because we happened upon a shopping centre across the road, and my daughter saw the temple out of a window.

After a walk around the perimeter of the site, we walked up to the main hall to see the Buddha image, after all that's what it's all about for the Thais. You can get some great city skyline shots from the outside of the main hall as well as close ups of the gleaming roofs of the temple.

At the rear is the temple's main golden chedi where my daughter insisted on taking a photo of me!

The temple is located on Rama 4 road, with Sam Yan underground station right outside. It is also a short walk from Hualampong train station.

Sunday, 6 February 2011

One sight often overlooked by visitors to Pattaya is Mini Siam. It is exactly what the name suggest, small models of famous buildings across Thailand and some models of buildings and structures across the world.

Just a short drive out of Pattaya, close to Jomtien beach, it is well worth a look. When we visited it was fairly busy, as a school coach trip had just arrived, but this didn't detract from the visit as the park is reasonably spacious.

Take advantage of the free umbrellas at the entrance, it was searingly hot when we went.

Tuesday, 1 February 2011

My family decided it was time to visit somewhere different for our beach break. We've done Koh Samet several times, Koh Samui, Phuket, Hua Hin etc etc. They all have their advantages but we plumped for somewhere new and Thai people rave about Chantaburi.

It was very quiet compared with all the above, but this is low season I guess. The beach we stayed on had black sand as opposed to the usual white. This is mainly due to the fact the beach belongs to crabs and black shelled hermit crabs which you can see everywhere along the beach. The black colour comes from their broken shells. Don't let that put you off, the sand, you shouldn't get nipped as the crabs are only babies and run away as you approach. The sand is OK for kids to play in and the water clean and warm. Best of all the beach was pretty much deserted and there were no annoying vendors or jetskis.

We visited Oasis Sea World to see the rare pink dolphins they keep there. There is a dolphin show a few times a day and you can book to swim with the dolphins. This place is pretty shabby though and I'm not sure how clean the water is. Make your own choices whether you should visit or not.

It is roughly a 4 hour drive from Bangkok depending on traffic, well worth a look for something different.